Memorial Union desperately requires renovation. Union South is due for complete reconstruction. But when students voted down the referendum last spring that aimed at meeting these needs, the union improvement process stagnated.
Known formerly as the Wisconsin Student Union Facility Improvement Plan, the Wisconsin Union Directorate rechristened the project ""Student Union Initiative"" to renew the project with student appeal. Still, a change in name is not a union-ailment panacea.
Fortunately, the Wisconsin Union Directorate also decided to change the cost to students: WUD announced Sept. 20 that the segregated fee per semester would drop to $48 for the first two years, half of the originally proposed $96.
This reduction in cost should motivate students to cast a vote in favor of the plan when it appears on the Oct. 18-19 Associated Students of Madison ballot.
The $48 semesterly fee would fund necessary Memorial Union renovations. It would bring the aging building up to fire and accessibility code and modernize safety, ventilation, heating and cooling systems. Union South would undergo reconstruction in order to improve energy efficiency and student services.
Students oversaw and developed the SUI in collaboration with the same firm that developed the nationally accalimed Campus Master Plan, and now the greater student body should support their efforts. Contrary to what opponents argue, the plan is not about cosmetic changes, though the aesthetic and entertainment qualities of each union would improve.
Moreover, the outcome of the SUI referendum implicates several other union services: SAFE programming, recreational sports, University Health Services, food services, facilities for student groups, recreational sports and diverse directorate programming.
If the referendum does not pass, the cost of funding necessary changes may fall on students through another vessel—increased cost of union products and services.
UW-Madison already ranks among the lowest of UW-System schools in terms of union operation costs. Even when the two-year period ends, the $96 per semester fee will land UW-Madison in the middle bracket for system segregated fee rates for building projects.
At $96 per semester, this editorial board endorsed the original blueprint laid by WUD. At $48, we vigorously urge students to cast a ballot in favor of the initiative.
